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Roehampton | Bouchard scrapes through

Eugenie Bouchard came close to being eliminated in the Wimbledon Qualifying tournament at Roehampton but recovered to move past Karolina Muchova 6-2 2-6 6-3. The Canadian, a Wimbledon finalist in 2014, is now one win away from reaching the main draw of The Championships.

I didn’t feel like I was playing all that well, so I am just happy I was able to keep myself collected in the third and find a way, Eugenie Bouchard

The 24-year-old was also Wimbledon junior champion in 2012 and reached the world’s top five when her game crumbled and in the last four years, she dropped down the rankings to 191.

It looked like Bouchard was on course for a comfortable victory after taking the opening set in Wednesday’s second-round qualifying match at the Bank of England Sports Centre but then the 21-year-old Czech levelled put the outcome in the balance, before Bouchard’s experience saw her through on her first match-point opportunity.

Bouchard will next face the qualifying tournament’s second seed Mariana Duque-Marino after the Colombian world number 97 defeated Richel Hogenkamp 6-4 6-1.

“I didn’t feel like I was playing all that well, so I am just happy I was able to keep myself collected in the third (set) and find a way,” Bouchard told BBC Sport.

“I would be proud of myself for going through the (qualifying) matches. I have a match tomorrow, that is all I am worried about right now.”

On her journey toward competing at the major events again, Bouchard added: “I have learned a lot and I am just grateful to be able to play tennis.”

About The Author

Henry Wancke is one of the most respected Tennis writers in the UK. Henry is the Editor of both Tennis Threads Magazine and tennisthreads.net. He previously worked as Editor of Tennis World, Serve & Volley as well as Tennis Today magazines and been stringer for The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and Press Association. He also co-authored the Ultimate Encyclopaedia of Tennis with John Parsons published by Carlton, and the Federation Cup – the first 32 years, published by the ITF. Currently he is the Secretary of the Lawn Tennis Writers’ Association and Hon Vice President of the Tennis Industry Association UK.

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